Isakly what we need
- Thread starter Hansern
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our wide forwards are set up to finish, not provide. Also, the lacking use of full backs amplify this. We are not setting up a no. P with crosses and cut backs. Gak and salah want to shoot.
Invert the attacker triangle please. Firm has left the building, so has Trent who could find a striker early.
Poor the Isak
Invert the attacker triangle please. Firm has left the building, so has Trent who could find a striker early.
Poor the Isak
I don't have the slightest clue who the fuck this cunt is but he sounds more like a manager than Snot could ever wish for. Summerton in!
He has bad initials.
And if we leave on attacker forward almost always the opposition will leave two defenders back, never one v one.
Very similar to how we misused Nunez TBH. He thrived on balls into the 6 yd box as his stats (over 50% scored within the 6yd box) in Portugal indicated.
This lad was at best a £75m striker…..he really is not anything special. He never was. Andy Cole went for mega bucks in the 90’s - he banged loads of goals in, but even he had more about himself in terms of personality and individuality on the ball. He is a vanity signing. Ferguson still tried to replace Cole with Shearer a year or two later as he understood to be the best, you needed more certainty with your number 9.
Not sure we are miss using him, it’s a bit if an easy excuse for not playing well and doing his bit. Nunez is a not a good example, same Nunez who used to miss a load of chances and now struggling in a poor Saudi league. Maybe this year, we missed out on signing players of right mentality, can’t help feel data science without human element has been missing since our engimatic German legt.
"The drop in Isak's passing meters—from 186m per 90 at Newcastle to 84m at Liverpool—suggests a shift in his role. At Newcastle, he likely contributed more to build-up with progressive passes. Liverpool's tactics may emphasize his finishing over distribution, or he's adapting to a new system."
View: https://x.com/SimonBrundish/status/1996588591359619220
Team mates not doing him favours at 1:03, 1:25, 1:40
Positive at 1:56
View: https://x.com/margielatabiz/status/1996247765102346666
"Isak at Newcastle had players like Murphy, looking to get balls into him as quickly as possible"
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3USh0nKR38
View: https://x.com/SimonBrundish/status/1996588591359619220
Team mates not doing him favours at 1:03, 1:25, 1:40
Positive at 1:56
View: https://x.com/margielatabiz/status/1996247765102346666
"Isak at Newcastle had players like Murphy, looking to get balls into him as quickly as possible"
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3USh0nKR38
I should hope he is better than this. FFS.
I don’t have to watch the videos to know he worked in more open spaces playing for Newcastle than playing for us. I also know the usual wide players won’t be looking for him in the box to get off those first time finishes we saw against West Ham. I would like to see more energy and movement from him but the rest of the useless cunts aren’t doing that so it’s not just on him.
He is. But he's playing alongside black holes like Gakpo and Salah.
View: https://x.com/TeleFootball/status/1996937282201219567
When Liverpool paired Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz last summer, there were hopes a partnership as legendary as John Aldridge and Peter Beardsley would instantly form.
The reference carried weight, as a deadly penalty-box predator was joined by an imaginative No 7. Throw a British record-breaking transfer fee to Newcastle United into the mix – Beardsley’s £1.9m was more than anyone in England had spent for a player before July 1987 – and the redesign of Liverpool’s strikeforce had a historic precedent.
Those who recall how Kenny Dalglish rejigged his line-up with the proceeds of Ian Rush’s sale to Juventus will be quick to point out there were other significant pieces of the jigsaw, enabling Aldridge to combine with one of the greatest wingers of all time, John Barnes, and the most underrated attacking midfielder of his generation, a player who intuitively knew Aldridge’s strengths from their time at Oxford United, Ray Houghton.
How Isak must wish similar ammunition was coming his way in his first few months on Merseyside. As a critical eye is cast upon the £125m striker’s early Liverpool appearances, it is not just the limited time on the pitch with Wirtz which has reduced his goalscoring opportunities. A No 9 who has previously thrived on penetrating crosses, defence-splitting passes and counter-attacks is adjusting to a new style, and a world in which low-block defences raise questions as to how and when he will flourish.
It’s a conundrum Arne Slot is aware he must fix. Not unlike Isak’s predecessor in the No 9 jersey, Darwin Nunez, each time he struggles a debate rages as to whether the problem is his personal performance and overall workrate, or the set-up of a team unsuited to his assets. The fair conclusion is it’s a bit of both.
Isak touched the ball just 14 times in 86 minutes against Sunderland in midweek, a worrying lack of involvement which has been typical of a poor start to his Liverpool career.
Asked about this on Friday, Slot said he was not overly concerned about how many times Isak is in possession. He argued with some justification that Erling Haaland has become renowned for having little involvement outside of the penalty box while being a killer in it.
“Do you know how many times he [Isak] touched the ball at Newcastle on average?” asked Slot. “Twenty-two. In this league, strikers don’t touch the ball that much but a few times they do touch it, it’s quite nice they finish it off.
“I have no clue what the stats of Haaland are. He doesn’t touch it 100 times a game, but he does score a lot. It is more important that they touch the ball at the right times than to touch it so many times.
“We have to make sure that’s the complete difference between Haaland and Alex; Haaland touches it much more where it matters and that’s where we must improve. It is clear and obvious.”
In fact, Isak did receive the ball considerably more for Newcastle, certainly last season, where the figure was nearer to 37 per 90 minutes. At St James’ Park, Eddie Howe built a system which evidently suited the Swede, his wingers Jacob Murphy and Anthony Gordon under orders to feed their No 9 quickly and often. In mitigation, Liverpool are more accustomed to playing against sides with 10 men behind the ball, the onus on Isak and other attackers to find space in a more congested final third.
In recent games, Slot admits he has also favoured defensive solidity over the more gung-ho formation which led to nine defeats in 12 games prior to last weekend’s win at West Ham United.
Liverpool have been duller to watch in the past two matches, but for Slot it was a necessary first building block towards more consistent results. That means Isak has fed on scraps, although ironically he struck his first league goal against the Hammers.
“He is not the only No 9 who suffers in some games from not getting many chances,” said Slot.
“I watched the second half of Leeds United against Manchester City, and I watched the whole game of Leeds against Chelsea. At this level, it’s not like the No 9 is involved in eight, nine, 10 chances every single half. But it is obvious and clear that we want to bring Alex into more threatening situations.
“Before we went to only one goal conceded in two games, we had a lot of chances. As a result, because we are a little bit more compact and not taking as many risks, we have not been able to create as many chances as all of the games before. It is definitely one of the things on my list of things to improve, getting our No 9 more involved in the game and more involved in the final third.”
What "new system"?
View: https://x.com/indykaila/status/1997079628125499411
Liverpool are not playing to Alexander Isak’s strengths, Arne Slot admits
Arne Slot said of Alexander Isak: ‘We want to bring him into more threatening situations,’ but added few strikers touch the ball much in the Premier League
Arne Slot has conceded Liverpool are not bringing the best out of Alexander Isak and must maximise their record signing’s strengths in the manner Manchester City do with Erling Haaland.
The £125m striker scored his first Premier League goal for Liverpool in last Sunday’s win at West Ham but was unable to build on that breakthrough against Sunderland on Wednesday. Isak had another quiet game. Slot has repeatedly defended the Swede’s slow start as an inevitable consequence of missing pre-season with Newcastle, when he in effect went on strike to force his exit, but Liverpool’s head coach admits his team are also culpable for the player’s problems.
“He is not the only No 9 who suffers in some games from not getting many chances,” said Slot, who has Conor Bradley back from injury for Saturday’s trip to Leeds. “At this level it’s not like the No 9 is involved in eight, nine, 10 chances every single half. But it is obvious and clear that we want to bring him into more threatening situations.
“Before we went to only one goal conceded in two games [West Ham and Sunderland] we had a lot of chances. Because we are a little bit more compact and not taking as many risks, we have not been able to create as many chances as all of the games before. It is definitely one of the things on my list of things to improve to get our No 9 more involved in the game and more involved in the final third.”
Isak has averaged only 14 touches per game in his last three starts for Liverpool but Slot insists it is where he touches the ball, not how often, that counts. “Do you know how many times he touched the ball at Newcastle on average? Twenty-two,” he said (it was 36.8 last season according to Opta). “In this league strikers don’t touch the ball that much but a few times they do touch it, it’s quite nice if they finish it off. I have no clue what the stats of Haaland are but I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t touch it 100 times a game, but he does score a lot. It is more important that they touch the ball in the right times than to touch it so many times. Haaland touches it much more where it matters and that’s where we need to improve. It is clear and obvious.”
Isak’s match fitness remains an issue problem and Slot admitted it is still “unrealistic” to expect the Sweden international to complete three 90-minute games in a week. He played 68 and 86 minutes against West Ham and Sunderland respectively. “That’s not the way you want to start your career at Liverpool,” he said the Dutchman. “It is far, far from an ideal situation but, again, this club doesn’t buy a player for half a year. We bought him for six years.”
Slot believes the absence of an orthodox winger at Liverpool and the rising trend of Premier League teams defending in a low block have added to Isak’s difficulties at his new club. “With Jeremie Frimpong being injured and Conor Bradley being out it is not like we have so many options on the right-hand side, and it is a bit similar on the left,” he added the head coach. “Alex could benefit maybe from a Conor or a Jeremie type of player who goes outside, instead of both wingers we have who come inside and full-backs who can come in with crosses.
“But the main difference for him is that we are facing a low block many times. It is not that it never happened at Newcastle but not as much, I think. This season the league has changed, we see so many more low blocks than last season. But I see this not only against us, I see this in many games. It makes it harder for him compared to his time at Newcastle but I think it is also him adjusting to his teammates and his teammates adjusting to him. But it is obvious and clear that we have not the profile of [Newcastle’s] Jacob Murphy, for example, available at this moment at this time.”
Ekitike seems to drop a lot deeper. Whether that is by design only they know.
Wirtz was always a huge risk. Isak not so much.
Except we could absolutely play Chiesa on the right as an orthodox winger who can cut inside or go outside, but he refuses to do that.
Eh?????? Why not?
Isak isn’t coming into a team that played the same way at Newcastle. We play against a deep side 80% of the time. We don’t have ball playing wide players. He’s also had a series of injury problems with just a single season where he was almost available from start to finish. He also cost £130 million.
He was a massive fucking risk.
He’s a brilliant striker who’s been terribly unfit due to pre season
Because Dreamy has hung his hat on Wirtz being a failure from the start, he'll double/triple/quadruple down on that no matter what.
Who isn’t a grafter or plays against packed defences. Another player where the previous club played to him, not him for the club.
Him being that unfit is on him. He’s also picked up an injury already for us. £140 million should get you a mega star. He isn’t.
I get that he had a poor pre-season, but that was essentially about a month training alone. He's a professional footballer and one who we are led to believe is very focused. It shouldn't be beyond him to keep himself reasonably fit without the Newcastle coaching team guiding him.
Even if that is impossible, and missing a month of pre-season means a player is essentially useless for the rest of the year, that seems a pretty good reason not to sign that player. It's not as if we got a bargain.
Even if that is impossible, and missing a month of pre-season means a player is essentially useless for the rest of the year, that seems a pretty good reason not to sign that player. It's not as if we got a bargain.
I saw those Jacob Murphy quotes and I just assumed it was a wind up. Did the clueless fraud actually say that!?
I never said he’d be a failure, I said he was extremely high risk and that he’d most likely not be suited to the strength and pace of the EPL and we couldn’t afford the time it would take it him to adjust, if he did at all. For that price I thought it was a gamble we couldn’t afford. Of course I was hounded by many who said he’d be a massive hit and was the next global superstar and couldn’t fail.
Isak is a very very different proposition considering we needed shot of Nunez and he had been tearing the league apart including or very own Virgil.
His injury record and age were the main concerns but they had two very different risk profiles imo.
I’m confident both can and will adjust if given the time but it’s already cost us the league this season.
